The Revs. Irene Monroe and Emmett G. Price III were back on Boston Public Radio for their regular Monday segment. The two talked about Selma's relative success at the 87th Academy Awards, and a reimagining of Malcolm X's legacy on the 50th anniversary of his death. The Reverends also offered an update to their weekly "Pope Watch" — a rating of Pope Francis' recent public comments.
What did you two make of John Legend and Common's performance on the Academy Awards last night?
Rev. Price: The musical backdrop was just absolutely awesome. ["Glory"] was absolutely right on the money.
Rev. Monroe: The props! To see the stage, walk across the bridge, really brought back that moment.
Selma wasn't nominated for Best Picture. Was it fair that it at least won for Best Original Song?
Monroe: They were throwing us a bone, the Academy. [...] The tsunami of black folks that were either presenting, or part of a crowd scene. [It felt like they were saying] 'We see black folks, we have black folks.' [...] I didn't see Asians, I didn't see Latinos other than J. Lo.
Price: David Oyelowo — he should've been nominated for Best Actor.
Monroe: We might need at least a couple of flies in this bowl of milk.
Price: I can tell you right now where all the black people sat last night.
Malcolm X's daughter, Ilyasah Shabazz, has been speaking out recently on the 50th anniversary of her father's death. She's called for recognition of Malcolm X's transition to a different ideological outlook later in life. What do you think?
Price: She's absolutely right and I'm so proud of her for doing this. She's the third daughter, and she was two year sold when he was assassinated in the Audubon Ballroom. [...] It took him 38 years to deal with the tension of his family, his upbringing, his history, his pathology. [That led to] his transformation.
Monroe: He's frozen in time sort of like MLK. [Later he advocated for] not just black rights, but human rights. And the thing is, he left the Nation of Islam. [...] One of the things I always think about is, What would he think now in terms of what's going on in the Muslim world?
Price: [Malcolm X was talking] more about love and healing, more about collaboration and partnership, and really more about what it would take for this world to be what it should be.
Monroe: Although America was not ready for Malcolm in his day, they still wouldn't be ready for Malcolm today, largely because he's an outward-thinking black man.
Price: He was a nurturer and an educator.
It's time for Pope Watch. How do you guys rate the pontiff this week, specifically keeping in mind that he said transgender people do not "recognize the order of creation."
Monroe: I gave him a three last time. That's quite a bit of a jump. The whole reason is because of some nice things he said about women. [...] What he said about transgender people, and that they're manipulating God's eternal design, [...] why don't we tell the truth. [...] Tell the truth and just shame the devil.
Price: The Pope should just stay away from scientific analysis.
Monroe: The bar is so low I just feel like, What are we doing here? I think we are — very much — enabling a nice man, but not a man that has moved into modernity.
>>To hear the entire segment click the audio at the top of the page. The Rev. Emmett G. Price III is a music professor at Northeastern University, and the author of The Black Church and Hip Hop Culture. The Rev. Irene Monroe is a syndicated religion columnist who writes for Bay Windows, Huffington Post and other publications.
